RE: Lotus Elise S1: Spotted

[kambites]

slider2 said:

How does this 'awfulness' manifest itself?

Poor geometry can create just about any handling/control anomaly that you can imagine. I'm no expert but I think the following is a rough summary of what you feel (as opposed to what the ultimate effects on handling are):

Front toe in makes the steering feel inert and vague around the centre.
Too much front toe out makes the steering feel darty and unstable.
Rear toe out makes the back end feel unstable and consequently makes the steering feel hyper-sensitive.
Too much negative front camber makes the car tram-line and feels unstable under braking.
Caster has a rather more complicated effect - more caster adds weight to the steering and also increases how much camber is added under cornering.


I think mostly when someone says the Elises's steering feels crap, it's incorrect toe that they're feeling. Usually at the front although the back does have a surprising amount of effect on the steering. The Elise should toe out slightly at the front and in significantly at the rear. Camber is rather more down to personal preference because as you increase negative front camber you gain cornering grip but also pick up some undesirable handling traits.

Edited by kambites on Monday 24th August 09:04